With the PyeongChang Winter Games approaching, we can’t help but recall the 2000 Summer Games, and the “unseasonably” cold weather in Sydney. Northern Hemisphere dwellers, some of us challenged by geography and climate, sat smugly in shorts, watching those poor runners and swimmers lose the battle against goosebumps. When the announcers reminded us that it was, indeed, winter in Australia, the teachable moment landed, and it was almost audible:

 

oh

 

Another Olympics approaches and much of North America shivers. We have books from Aussie authors to celebrate summer. Keep hope (and warmth) alive!

A Hot Cold Summer

A pick-a-path series giving the reader the chance to make the decisions, and choose how the story goes!

It’s the last day of school and Frankie Jones is looking down the barrel of a long, hot, boring summer with only her guitar for company until… 1. She gets a surprise chance to go to London. She’s dying to go – except that it will mean seeing her heartbreakingly cute British friend Jack again. Will things take up where they left off? Or can Frankie finally prove she’s over him? OR

2. Her dad invites her on a beach holiday. But when she discovers her dad’s new girlfriend and her daughter Ellie are also coming on their trip, Frankie’s not sure how she feels. Will she get to spend any time with her dad at all? Or will she be expected to hang out with Ellie, her new best frenemy?

 

 

The Secrets We Keep

A beautifully written and insightful new novel sensitively uncovering the effects of trauma on the mind of an eleven-year-old girl.I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a house burn, but it’s not like anything else …Clem Timmins has lost it all – her house, possessions and clothes. Now living in a tiny flat with her dad, she has to go to a new school far from what she knows.On her first day, Clem meets Ellie. To fit in, Clem reveals a secret and immediately regrets sharing too much with her new friend.How can Clem face everything in her life when all she wants to do is run away?

 

Calypso Summer

Calypso Summer is a story told by Calypso, a young Nukunu man, fresh out of high school in Rastafarian guise. After failing to secure employment in sports retail, his dream occupation, Calypso finds work at the Henley Beach Health Food shop where his boss pressures him to gather Aboriginal plants for natural remedies. Growing up in urban Adelaide and with little understanding of his mother’s traditional background, Calypso endeavours to find the appropriate native plants. This leads him to his Nukunu family in Port Augusta and the discovery of a world steeped in cultural knowledge. The support of a sassy, smart, young Ngadjuri girl, with a passion for cricket rivalling his own, helps Calypso to reconsider his Rastafarian façade and understand how to take charge of his future.

 

Check out the entire Summer in Oz reading list.